In both the emergence and ensuing development of a modern architectural idiom in Canada's Pacific Northwest, designs for the detached family home have served an important role as crucibles of exploration and research.

New materials and building technologies have been allied with challenges to conventional social habit, while the rugged terrain, lush vegetation, and benign climate have provided a profound measure to the artifice of design.  Published 2013.0605

In the fourteen years between 1995 and 2009, Hopkins Architects were responsible for the design and realization of the largest building project that Norwich Cathedral had seen since the Middle Ages.  Published 2013.0515

Stairs, ramps, and slopes are specific types of flooring assemblies that join two or more different levels.

Their design is guided, in part, by larger design intentions that involve human movement through space, along with scale, location, orientation, wayfinding strategies, and their contextual fit within the immediate and surrounding environment.  Published 2012.0418

There are many approaches to sustainable architecture, and one of the most efficient and effective is the reuse of old buildings.

Often, adaptive reuse is not as sexy as designing a high-tech green building from scratch, with its full complement of the latest gizmos. But reconceptualizing a building that already exists is often the most sustainable choice, because such structures contain embodied energy — the energy that was invested in their original design and construction.  Published 2012.0418

Placed improbably between a pair of historical listed buildings, the contemporary facade of Gap House is a mere 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) wide. This new-build four-bedroom family home, winner of the RIBA Manser Medal for residential architecture, was designed by architect Luke Tozer of Pitman Tozer Architects for himself and his family.  Published 2012.0222

There are over 80 million single-family homes in the United States, and it's estimated that 18 million of these are "under water," meaning the mortgage is larger than the value of the house. Millions of families feel trapped, living a life sentence of domestic frustration in homes that do not work for them while being unable to move to solve the problems they confront on a daily basis.  Published 2012.0208

In this glimpse at the Tokyo architecture firm Atelier Bow-Wow, Terunobu Fujimori describes the studio's special approach to space, and the architects themselves outline three of their amazing houses. —Editor Published 2010.0804

For an academic unit that produces such forward-thinking projects as electronic ink, humanoid robots, and a digital opera, one might expect an edgy, geometrically wild building by Zaha Hadid or Coop Himmelb(l)au. But for the new building for the MIT Media Lab, Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki designed a serene example of classic modernism — a glass-and-steel form wrapped in an elegant aluminum screen.  Published 2010.0602